Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong (born 18 September 1971) is possibly the best-known American professional road-racing cyclist. He also founded and still serves as the chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support.
He has won the Tour de France (the world's longest cycling race that takes place over 3 500 km and takes three weeks), a record seven times consecutively.
On 2 October 1996, at age 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The cancer had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. On that first visit to an urologist in Austin, Texas, for his cancer symptoms he was already coughing up blood and had a large, painful testicular tumour.
Immediate surgery and chemotherapy were required to save his life. Armstrong had an orchiectomy to remove his diseased testicle. After his surgery, his doctor admitted that he had less than a 40% survival chance.
His cancer went into complete remission, and by January 1998, he was already engaged in serious training for racing, moving to Europe to race for the U.S. Postal team.
Armstrong retired from racing on 24 July 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009, finishing third in the 2009 Tour de France.
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Page Last Updated 4 March 2010
